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Polestar 2

Google I/O: developer reactions

We're excited about the Polestar 2 for a lot of reasons. One of the biggest is its operating system: Android Automotive with Google Maps, the Google Assistant, and Google Play Store, standard in every Polestar car from here on out.

Crowd forming a queue, waiting to explore Polestar 2, which is displayed under a protective tent in a parking lot.
I've never seen a system like this. Fantastic, large icons, the maps don't distract you. This is the way it's going to be, it has to.
Harjot Singh, front-end developer at Zaio

We figured developers would be excited too. This represents a new stage in digital in-car experiences, with an operating system that is both native to the car and future-proof. This is like the Klondike before the prospectors starting showing up. There’s gold in this here operating system.

So we took it to Google I/O, to let developers test its functionality for themselves. We also built a developer portal and a Polestar Emulator to let them see exactly how their code would work in the Polestar 2. Here are some of their reactions:

“I’ve never seen a system like this. Fantastic, large icons, the maps don’t distract you. This is the way it’s going to be, it has to.”–Harjot Singh, Zaio front-end developer

“It’s a really clean, intuitive design. Easy to get to the most-used functions.”–Antti Turunen, Nitor senior software architect

“The four-tile system is better than what a lot of other manufacturers are offering. It’s so much easier to use than a scroll wheel or touchpad. It’s nice to see [Polestar] avoiding squeezing in a ton of functions into the home screen.”–Zhang Zhiguang, San Jose State University design student

“It’s exciting to see [the OS in the Polestar 2], because the Android ecosystem is so open. This is the future.”–Christopher Ellwood, Mindbody developer

“What [Polestar] has done is very smart, design-wise. You don’t actually need that many functions while driving.”–Riku Kalander, Nitor software engineer

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